Bearing arrangement for horizontal rotor shafts



' H. GEHRE Nov. 1K1, 1952y BEARING" ARRANGEMENT FOR HORIZONTAL ROTORSHAF'TS Filed March 3, 1951 Patented Nov. 11,v 1952 asias-94BEARINGARRANGEMENT FOR HORI- f' lzoN'rAL RoToR'sHAFTs i Hans Gehre,Oberkassel-omthe-Rhine, Germany AppucationlMarch s,1951,seria1N.dz13,717

1 In Germany'Max-ch 7,1950

v7- (}laims.

This invention relates toa bearing arrangernent for horizontal rotorshaft. `It particularly relates toja bearing arrangement used forhorizontal rotor shafts on paddle Wheel measuring instruments Vforthefdetectionofsrnall fluid cur-' "'rents; .A A

y 'Ir'hepresent invention is an improvement'on an earlier inventionwhich isdescribed in Swiss Patent No. 229,216 and French Patent No.883,750`offthe applicant. [In the vsaidfpatents, two' retail-,Q10

"ing discs are'dis'closed, each secured to a vertical. jsfnaft supportedbelow bya'pointfface bearing,

andeachl having an` upwardly directed; annular knife-edge on its upperSide. The roter shaft ,rolls 'I `or these knife edges, one end on each,and'is heldl` exactly in the planecommon tothe two vertical shafts byguide devices. ,thus loaded onone side..l

' When using the bearing" arrangementas di'sclosedin the said patent, nolubrication, main-f' tenance or inspection of any kind isrequired. Bychoosing the correct proportions of therel- *ative parts of j'thedevicedisclosed in,l the said patent,` the friction loss may be reduced toanamount which isjscarcely measurable. With Ysuch a"construction,` itbecomes' possible to build paddle Vwheel measuring instruments for the'detection of ve'ryfsmall ,air flows or gas streams which retain Ytheir.'accuracy even when theya're operated con-v tinuo'usly and are subjectedto considerable overloading. l V 'A "There are,however, severaldisadvantages in the-very slight loadfof therotor. shaft is 'disAillrzutel between'two. rotating discsV and thus' A shaft is mounted ona single disc with an upward s pported between two knife edges, `thefriction" fforc'e between thefk'niferedges and the rotor shaft Therotating 'discs are"y A use of the arrangement 'as disclosed' in the,saidpatent in very sensitiveinstruments. Since 4 isf' sof nsmall `thatthefdanger that-the rotor shaft "willfr'slip on `the knife Vedgesinstead ofrollin'g en. 'IheinevitalJle consequencev of "such Slip- 1 lisincreased wear and shorter life of". the jams?. f

YYIn''additic'my .the further disadvantagev arisesw that when the loadis distributed betweentwoV knife edges the assemblage of the rotatingsystem, e5, the horizontal rotor shaft and the parts ting therewith asaiunit,.a nd itsjbearng arrangement cannot be constructed'into aselff'con- `tained insert whichcan be `reniovedasa whole from'thehousing. Such a construction is made impossible by unsurmountabledifficulties. A relatively largeconstruction of the length of the "shaft;v etcj. is required inl orderV to insure steady,

opration-of the shaft when 'it is 'supported by the vwheel bearing inaccordance with two knife edges. Such a large construction wouldnecessarily entail a large opening in the housing',- in'o'rder'to'enableremoval asa v'unit'. Such alaigeopening would weaken the housing tozto'ogreat an extent in view of the heat stresses of Vthe conduit which placelarge strains on"the housing n l e Consequently, in the known devicesusing'the bearing structure as disclosed in the said patent,

installation centering-and adjustment of therotor shaft, and troubleshooting for any sourcel of dis-l turbance must be carried on inside theassembled instrument. Because of this,'these tasks areedifti-v cult andtime-consuming, and the indispensable connecting elements e. g. bearingsupportvbridge,

yoke, etc., add to-the inaccessibility of the'parts. Due to this, thedesired control over the vease 'of operation of the rotor shaft is nolongerpossible, Overcoming these diliculties is an urgent necessity forthe sakev of both economical manne facture and satisfactory workmanship.It is also indispensable that the instruments be capable of beingcorrectly calibrated. i I

One object of this invention is to overcomevall theaforementioneddiiiiculties This and further objects willbecomeapparentfrom the following description read in conjunction withthe drawingdnwhichz ""1 Figure 1 shows a vertical section of a paddlethe invention, in a Woltinan-meter, andA I Figure 2 shows anotherembodimentfof-jthe bearing according Vto the invention, with the' discshown in section and positioned in a vertical posi-7 tion,V the'rotorshaft having a constriction, Y

According tothe present invention, the rotor vention, the total weightof the rotor shaftand'its associated parts rests on a single point,so'that the friction between the knife edge and the rotor shaft is aproduct of the entire weight of the'` rotor shaft and its associatedparts and, thus a slipless rolling 'of the, rotor shaft on the lannularknife edge is assured.

A further advantage of this arrangement lies in the fact that thenecessary dimensions and thus the space for the rotating system are soreduced that the assemblage of its parts with the bearing arrangementinto a self -contained unit which can be removed from the housing, nolonger endangers the latters stability or strength.

Thus,"this unit v`can-'be assembled and fthe frotor shaft can becentered and adjusted .outside the housing and all parts are easilyaccessible and open to inspection from all sides. Moreover, calibrationis rendered extremelysimple, .since .only the measuring inserts and notthe "entire'apparatus need be calibrated.

Measuring inserts which lcan .be `rremovedifrom tonzo'f .the .rotaryshaft, as vcompared with prior f .'knownfs'hafts,.is assured. .This isbecause only one yoke is required now, and due to the more ac- --fcurateworkmanship that is possible this canbe .-'fgiven much less play :thanwould be necessary -where fthe rotor shaft :rests `on 4two .knife edges,.and where `the parts :are consequently less ac- 'cessible :Referring-to the drawings, land in -particular .Figure .11, the ,paddle wheelbearing -of a Wolt- .man :meter for detecting -slight gas streams is y.'shown. The meter .comprises the cylindrical housing I anda How-guidebody 2, coaxially positionedtherein. Thr-:.-oW-guide bodyis mountjednthe housing -aby means of longitudinalrib .Bastened toit. rfhe housing.-I and -theflow- @guide :body 2 enclose the .annular channel 4, throughwhich the gaseousmediumvto be measured is lead via a throttle section -5to the blade The tshaft-of the measuring wheel is desig- *inated 8. Its.bearing larrangement, is .mounted inivthepusual wayinside the now-guidebody 2in va. space I 0 partitioned off by a wall 9. Thebear-.ingiarrangement according to the invention comgn'isesfa singlerotatabledisc .I2 `.on lan'iupright 'axis II with `an annularl-yupwarddirectedknife edge I3 -whichfsupports .the rotor-shaft 8. The.point :of icontact-of .the .eknife .edge I3 and the :surface-of therotor shaft isatfa point on the rotorshaft closest tothe centerofgravityof the .'wholevrotatable system. Asmall journal I4 at onefendof .therotor .shaft 8 together `witha .hole I5 providedin the wall 9.constitute iafstresslfree=. guide, while the otherl endo'f the rotorshaft ffis-iretained inposition by VVa guide I6 formed as a-yoke..Theends of the rotor shaft run freel-yfandfare limited by these guides.

The rotorishaft 8 passes from vthe space I0 through a hole II in the.rear wall I8. The

--xneasuring wheel 6 and `1 is mounted at I9 on the .end outside of thisspace. VA .plate 20 at one gendiof therotorshaft 8 and anfadjustablebuffer '-2I .at-the otherend serve to keep the longitudinal movement ofthe rotorshaft 8 within the desired 'limits .-'I-he'bearing shell 22 ofthe upstanding-shaft .I-I .is positioned .through the wall of the spaceIU at .23 andisscrewed at 24 into a hole in the .ggpe'rpendicular,Alowermost longitudinal rib l3 .ofthe .flow-guide body 2. The shaft II.andthe plane construction, ith'e rotor Yshaft vIl ifmust 'be `con-;.stricted 'att28 toziclear V.the iknifexedge at the opposite side ofthe disc from the point of support.

However, the construction illustrated in Figure 1 is ypreferred, as theconstriction 28 will weakenfthe'rotorshaft.

"The housing I is provided with an annular lwidening ar`ound Ytherotating system, in which 'a cylinder 26 .is located so as to form adirect continuation ofthe outer wall of the annular channld. Thecylinder 26 is removably mountvfed at'the forepart of the housing andforms a seal with the housingby means of a packing 21. The `.arrangementis `such .that .the .rear part of .the .flow-'guide body 2 which.includes '.the .'-space ID with `.the shaftLbearing arrangement, .con-

:stitutes `a self-fcontained structural unit, .whichis -easily.removable .from the forepart Yo'f .the lflowguide body and whichtogeher with the surround- .ing cylinder 28,.against which itis mountedwith the ribs Y.3, .forms .a complete removable .insertion in thehousing I.

vInJFigure 1 .the removal .is effected..'from above, where the housingwidens lat 25. The .widening 25 -is .closed by.a .plate .orj'ange or.thelike (not shown). .It is obvious .that the .arrangementlmay lbe suchthat ,the insertion .and `.removal .is effected through a different.opening .;as, .for example, an .opening .provided.1aterally.

.I claim:

1. A knife 'bearing arrangement .for .horizontal rotor shafts:comprising a .bearing disk-'having .an upright .circular .knife fedge,.a shaft vfixed to the .center of said bearing discat an angleof V90"vfrom .the plane of .saidknife `e`dgesaid shaft being positi-onedin asubstantially .upright .povsition on a bearing. arotor Vshaftsupportedlypositioned at-.one point of contact, by .said knife edge,'said,point o`fcontact.being onfthe surface of .saidrotorshaft closest'to the centero'fgravity .of the .rotor shaft `,and the parts rotating there-` with Aas.a unit, and `.guide means positioned for .maintainingsaid rotorshaftvin position on said knife edge without friction.

2. A bearing arrangement according 'to claim 1,in'whichsaid uprightshalft is Asetat a slight inclination, the point :of contact betweenknife "edge vand 'isaid nrotor shaft .being lat the highest :point on"said .circular knife edge.

13.,.A` bearing arrangement according `to `claim .1, in lwhich .'saiduprightshaftisina vertical position, thegplane `of i'said knife edge.being in :a horizontal .,position, vsaid rotary 'shaft' having vanannular .constriction ata distance'from. said point of contact equal`tothe diameter of said circular knife edge, whereby a point onsaidkni'fe edge from `the pointof rcontactof said Yknife edge with saidrotor shaft passes through said -constriction without contact.

'14. A .bearing arrangement according to claim '1, in whichsaidupstanding shaft.ispositioned ina .bearingshell in a Ipaddle wheel gasVflow 'meter havinga flow guide body definedV by.a wall,

said bearing shell being `positioned. 'through the wall of said flowguide body from below ina vertical plane through the axis of therotorshaft.

i5. A bearing arrangement :according Ato .claim i4. in Awhich .thebearing :shell sf'theupstanding shaft is positioned in a hole in avertical lowermost longitudinal rib in the flow guide body..

6. A bearing arrangement according to claim 1, in which said upstandingshaft is positioned in a bearing shell in a paddle wheel gas flow meterhaving a ow guide body dened by a wall, said bearing shellbeingpositioned in the wall of said ow guide body from below in avertical plane through the axis of the rotor shoft, the rear part ofsaid flow guide body enclosing the bearing arrangement being aself-contained structural unit positioned for removal from the forepartof the flow guide body.

7. A bearing arrangement according to claim 6, in which the rear part ofthe ow guide body enclosing the bearing is mounted in a cylinder bymeans of longitudinal ribs, said cylinder being 6 located in an annularwidening of the housing oi' the meter and positioned to form a directcontinuation of the outer wall of an annular channel between the housingand the flow guide body, said cylinder, together with the rear portionof the iiow guide, forming an insertion removable from the housing.

HANS GEHRE.

REFERENCES CITED yFOREIGN PATENTS lCountry Date Denmark Oct. 23, 1944Number

